Chen approves new 'Taiwan' passports

Chen approves new 'Taiwan' passports

Agence France-Presse, Taipei

President Chen Shui-bian said on Sunday he had given the go-ahead
to add "Taiwan" to local passports, a move expected to compound
Beijing's fears that the island is seeking independence.

Chen said he felt the new policy was necessary to distinguish
Taiwan from arch foe Beijing in the international community.

Currently passports refer to the island as "the Republic of
China (ROC)," the name given to China in 1912 by nationalist
leader Dr. Sun Yat Sen and then transferred to Taiwan after the
nationalists were defeated in a civil war in 1949.

But Chen said this was too similar to the People's Republic of
China (PRC) which is how mainland China is currently known to the
outside world.

"The Republic of China passports were often mistaken for the
People's Republic of China passports," Chen, from the pro-
independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) told a group of
Taiwanese who were visiting from the United States.

"While we know the difference, foreigners may not be able to
tell the difference," he said.

"We feel we have lost face on this. So we feel we cannot let
the mix-up continue."

"So here I want to tell you that on Friday I formally approved
the proposal presented by the foreign ministry," Chen said,
without going into detail.

The nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) last year lost its grip on
power for the first time to Chen's pro-independence DPP.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Chang Siao-yue said details of
the passport alteration had not yet been fixed.

"But the national title ROC will by no means be changed," she
told AFP, adding that the change would also "comply with
international precedents".

Local newspapers had said the ministry would print the name
"Taiwan" separate from "the Republic of China" rather than side-
by-side, as had originally been planned, so as to prevent a mix-
up.

They said if the word "Taiwan" was added next to "the Republic
of China" on the passport, the ministry feared foreigners could
easily mistake Taiwan as being part of China.

Beijing considers Taiwan a renegade province awaiting
reunification and has threatened to take it by force should the
island ever declare independence or foot-drag over reunification
talks.

The Taipei government, however, insists on independent
sovereignty.

Despite assurances that the passport change was not a step
toward independence, Chen's remarks drew a backlash from pro-
reunification opposition parties.

Chang Hsien-yao, an official from the People First Party
(PFP), which favors eventual reunification with the mainland said
the statement was "a show of the political motivation of Taiwan
independence".

Feng Hu-hsiang, a legislator from the pro-reunification New
Party, joined PFP's Chang is threatening to cut the foreign
ministry's budget by some 100 million Taiwan dollars (US$2.9
million) in a parliament session on Wednesday.

Zhang Mingqing, spokesman of China's Taiwan Affairs Office,
had slammed the passport alteration when it was mooted in
December.

"This shows that the Taiwan authorities are moving step by
step toward independence," he said.

"We will maintain vigilance and observe what kind of steps
(Taiwan's authorities) will take," Zhang told reporters.

Semi-official talks between Taipei and Beijing have been
frozen since 1999, when the then Taiwan president Lee Teng-hui
said the island's ties with the mainland should be seen as
"state-to-state".

Beijing has declined to resume dialog with Taipei unless it
accepts the "one China principle," under which Taiwan is
considered a part of China. Chen has already rejected this
precondition.